By Abdullahi Alhassan
The Accident Investigation Bureau of Nigeria (AIB-N) has presented an initial report on the military plane crash that killed Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, the former Chief of Army Staff, to Air Marshall Oladayo Amao, the Chief of Air Staff.
Other passengers on the flight were killed in the crash.
Tunji Oketumbi, the bureau’s General Manager, Public Affairs, announced the announcement in a statement released in Lagos on Wednesday.
The former CAS, Attahiru, 54, was murdered along with ten others, including aides and crew, after the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) King Air -350 aircraft they were traveling in crashed in the northern state of Kaduna.
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The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) had ordered the formation of a joint investigative body made up of experienced NAF safety officers and the AIB to look into the circumstances surrounding the plane crash.
In presenting the report, AIB Commissioner Mr. Akin Olateru stated that the bureau was submitting the interim report on the tragic occurrence to CAS after almost three months of rigorous collaborative investigation. The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) had ordered the formation of a joint investigative body made up of experienced NAF safety officers and the AIB to look into the circumstances surrounding the plane crash.
In presenting the report, AIB Commissioner Mr. Akin Olateru stated that the bureau was submitting the interim report on the tragic occurrence to CAS after almost three months of rigorous collaborative investigation.
Olateru said the collaborative inquiry with the NAF was the country’s first direct involvement in a military air crash investigation and its second probe beyond its jurisdiction, after previously assisting Sao Tome and Principe.
The commissioner stated that copies of the report would be sent to the Ministry of Aviation and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) with the CAS’s approval to ensure that the suggestions addressed to aviation agencies were carried out.
Olateru said although the accident involved a military aircraft and crew, it happened at a civil airport adding that the involvement of AIB in the investigation by the Nigerian Air Force would help in closing the gaps on the civil aviation side.
“The material gained during the inquiry, the analysis of data collected in light of the Board’s Terms of Reference, and the conclusion, which contains the initial findings and immediate suggestions, we’re all organized into three sections in the presented report.
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“At this interim stage, the convening authority and other aviation-related authorities have received a total of 27 preliminary findings and eight immediate safety recommendations for immediate action.
The flight data recorder readout, the evaluated operator’s and service provider’s normal operating procedures, as well as other extensive analyses, are expected to be included in the final report, he said.
The CAS emphasized the importance of implementing the joint investigative clause in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreed between the NAF and the AIB on July 1, 2020, when receiving the report.
According to Amao, effective collaboration demonstrated the value of teamwork in aircraft accident investigations, which should be encouraged.
Such cooperative efforts, he said, make accident investigations more transparent and open.
The CAS also said that the investigation’s findings were not necessarily intended to result in disciplinary sanctions, but rather to improve aviation safety in general.